In The Bully of Bentonville: How the High Cost of Wal-Mart's Everyday Low Prices Is Hurting America, Anthony Bianco shows how Wal-Mart’s business practices have caused harmful ripple effects across the United States and the world. Bianco, a senior writer at BusinessWeek magazine, chronicles the giant retailer’s mistreatment of workers and its obsessive push for low prices that has cost thousands of jobs and shifted economic power to China. He concludes that “today, nearly half a century since Sam Walton opened the first store in Rogers, Ark., it is far from certain that even Wal-Mart can thrive in a Wal-Mart world.” Hardback. $24.95. Random House. Available at The Union Shop Online™.
RESOURCES
“Making It Work Better, a Work Family Educational Program,” by the Labor Project for Working Families, offers a step-by-step manual to help educate and mobilize union members and leaders on work and family issues. The three-and-a-half-hour curriculum includes short modules and all the tools a union educator needs to conduct a training, including group exercises on organizing, bargaining and advancing a public policy agenda on work and family issues, a PowerPoint presentation, background material and handouts. Download a free copy of the curriculum at the The Labor Project.
Many low-wage working parents fear losing their job if they stay home with a sick child. In One Sick Child Away from Being Fired: When 'Opting Out' Is Not an Option, Joan Williamsreviews union arbitrations on family care issues. She makes a strong case that unions protect workers who have work and family problems. Williams heads the Center for WorkLife Law, a research and advocacy group at the University of California, Hastings College of Law Download a free copy of the report (PDF).
DVD
The 110-minute DVD Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room shows the shocking inside story of the Enron scandal. Based on the best-selling book of the same name, the DVD features insider accounts of how top corporate executives intentionally misled the public, regulators, investors and employees about the company’s financial health. Corporate audio and videotapes reveal the moral vacuum that allowed such executives as former Enron CEO Ken Lay—who is now on trial for fraud—and others walk away with millions, leaving investors and employees with nothing. $26.98. Available from The Union Shop Online™.
WEBSIGHTING
The AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center helps workers tackle the enormous problems they face in the global economy. With field representatives working in more than 60 countries, the Solidarity Center assists workers around the world to fight for their rights and improve their living and working standards. The center’s website, www.solidaritycenter.org, features highlights of the center’s activities on issues such as child labor, workers’ rights, HIV/AIDS, countering trafficking of slave labor and safety and health. The site now offers an opportunity to subscribe to the Solidarity Center’s new quarterly newsletter.
